Soil amelioration needs are often variable across a paddock. At present growers have limited access to information on the locations of soil constraints at the sub-paddock level, making accurate and variable soil amelioration difficult. This project has evaluated and reported on existing and emerging technologies that provide three-dimensional (3D) multiple soil constraint data at a sub-paddock scale with potential for future on-the-go amelioration of different constraints and soils. The application of these technologies and approaches will ultimately reduce the cost and risk of incorrect soil amelioration, while significantly increasing yield and return on investment for growers.

A desktop analysis was conducted to provide insights on commercially available or emerging technologies that could deliver, or be combined to deliver, 3D soil constraint diagnostics at a sub-paddock scale.

A detailed review of the available technologies has found no one technology has all the required features or is able to provide all the diagnostics required. A combination of tools will be needed. The future almost certainly involves a combination of remote and proximally sensed data, layered over time to address computational constraints. It should step through the issues of where to look/prioritise, defining the constraint in broad terms using some form of soil testing and providing the spatial mapping of this information using proximal sensing approaches.